John Fredriksen (born 10 May 1944) is a Norwegian-born Cypriot oil tanker and shipping billionaire businessman based in London. He owns the world's largest oil tanker fleet and has major interests in the offshore driller
Seadrill
Seadrill is a deepwater drilling contractor for the petroleum industry. It is incorporated in Bermuda for tax purposes and managed from London and Houston The company operates semi-submersible platforms, jackup rigs and drillships.
History
Se ...
, the
fish farming
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Fish farming o ...
company
Mowi
Mowi ASA, formerly known as Marine Harvest ASA (until January 1, 2019), (Pan Fish prior to February 6, 2007), is a Norwegian seafood company with operations in a number of countries around the world. The company's primary interest is fish farm ...
supply vessel
Supply may refer to:
*The amount of a resource that is available
**Supply (economics), the amount of a product which is available to customers
** Materiel, the goods and equipment for a military unit to fulfill its mission
*Supply, as in confiden ...
company Deep Sea Supply. Through his investment companies Hemen Holdings and Meisha, Fredriksen controls the companies
Frontline
Front line refers to the forward-most forces on a battlefield.
Front line, front lines or variants may also refer to:
Books and publications
* ''Front Lines'' (novel), young adult historical novel by American author Michael Grant
* ''Frontlines ...
and
Golar LNG
Golar LNG owns and operates marine LNG infrastructure. The company had developed Floating LNG liquefaction terminal (FLNG) and Floating Storage and Regasification Unit (FSRU) projects based on the conversion of existing LNG carriers. Front End En ...
. In 2010–2011, Frontline owned 9.6 percent of another large tanker company,
Overseas Shipholding Group
Overseas Shipholding Group, Inc. (OSG - Overseas Shipping Group) () is the operator of a fleet of twenty-four oil tankers and oil tug-barges. It is based in Tampa, Florida, United States, and was founded in 1948.
In 1969, under the leadership o ...
. North Atlantic Drilling, Sevan Drilling, and Asia Offshore Drilling are partly owned by Seadrill.
Born in
Oslo
Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...
, Norway, Fredriksen is now a naturalised Cypriot citizen. Before abandoning his Norwegian citizenship, he was Norway's richest man. Norwegian magazine '' Kapital'' listed Fredriksen in 2013 with a net worth of NOK 69,75 billion (11.9 billion). In 2012, he was included in the 50 Most Influential list of
Bloomberg Markets
''Bloomberg Markets'' is a magazine published six times a year by Bloomberg L.P. as part of Bloomberg News. Aimed at global financial professionals, ''Bloomberg Markets'' publishes articles on the people and issues related to global financial ma ...
Magazine. He was named in the top 10 most influential people in the shipping industry according to Lloyds List 2014.
Biography
Family
Fredriksen was born on 10 May 1944 to a welder and his wife, and grew up in
Etterstad
Etterstad () is a neighborhood in Oslo, located between the river Alna and Strømsveien, north of Vålerenga. It was incorporated into Oslo in 1946, two years before the merger of Oslo and Aker. The area is mainly residential.
History
The area ...
, in the eastern half of
Oslo
Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...
.
Fredriksen is a widower and has two twin daughters: Cecilie and Kathrine Astrup Fredriksen (both born 1983). Fredriksen's late wife, dentist Inger Astrup Fredriksen (died 2006), originally belonged to one of the Astrup families in Norway. Her father was a professor of psychiatry, and her grand uncle was the painter Nikolai Astrup.
Business
Frederiksen first got into oil trading in the 1960s in
Beirut
Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...
,
Lebanon
Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus lie ...
, before buying his first tankers in the 1970s. He made his fortune during the
Iran–Iraq War
The Iran–Iraq War was an armed conflict between Iran and Iraq that lasted from September 1980 to August 1988. It began with the Iraqi invasion of Iran and lasted for almost eight years, until the acceptance of United Nations Security Counci ...
in the 1980s, when his tankers picked up oil at great risk and huge profits. As described by his biographer, "he was the lifeline to the
Ayatollah
Ayatollah ( ; fa, آیتالله, āyatollāh) is an honorific title for high-ranking Twelver Shia clergy in Iran and Iraq that came into widespread usage in the 20th century.
Etymology
The title is originally derived from Arabic word ...
." Fredriksen would later become the world's largest tanker owner, with more than seventy oil tankers and major interests in oil rigs and fish farming. His fleet is dominated by costly double-hulled, environmentally safer tankers.
In 2006, Seadrill bought more than 50 percent of Smedvig, gaining control of the company (51.24 percent of the votes and 52.27 percent of the capital). Smedvig is Fredriksen's biggest ever deal. Noble Corp sold its stake to Seadrill in 2009, leaving Seadrill with full control. Fredriksen has been the majority owner of Vålerenga I.F. for many years.
Fortune
The ''
Sunday Times Rich List
The ''Sunday Times Rich List'' is a list of the 1,000 wealthiest people or families resident in the United Kingdom ranked by net wealth. The list is updated annually in April and published as a magazine supplement by British national Sunday new ...
'' has ranked Fredriksen's wealth as £475m (2003), £1.050b (2004) and £1.887b (2005). In 2012, Fredriksen and his family were listed as the 9th richest in Britain with a combined wealth of £6.6bn. Fredriksen owns houses in London, Oslo, Cyprus, and
Marbella
Marbella ( , , ) is a city and municipality in southern Spain, belonging to the province of Málaga in the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is part of the Costa del Sol and is the headquarters of the Association of Municipalities of the reg ...
, Spain. His house The Old Rectory in London has been estimated to be worth around US$172 million. He is a collector of classic Norwegian art.
Philanthropy
Fredriksen claims to support research projects at The Radium Hospital and to have donated several hundreds of millions of Norwegian kroner to medical research at hospitals in Norway.